In China, a Spectacular Trove Of Dinosaur Fossils Is Found

By MALCOLM W. BROWNE

Published: April 25, 1997

PHILADELPHIA, April 24—
An international team of paleontologists announced today that a fabulous trove of dinosaur fossils had been discovered in a remote region of northeast China. Hundreds of major finds at the site include the first fossilized internal organs of dinosaurs ever seen, and the first fossil of a dinosaur containing a mammal it had just eaten.

Many of the excavated specimens seem to bear on the question of kinship between dinosaurs and birds, although the wealth of enigmatic fossils seems more likely at this stage to inflame debates over the origin of birds than to settle them.

Among specimens recently recovered from the site by a Chinese team were more than 200 fossils of a primitive bird, Confucius ornis, together with many species of dinosaurs, mammals, insects and plants, an apparently complete record of the life there at the instant in the late Jurassic or early Cretaceous period when it was suddenly wiped out.

The scientists surmise that a brief but lethal catastrophe, perhaps a huge volcanic eruption, killed and buried everything there, possibly even bacteria.

The announcement of the find and of an agreement by China to permit international cooperation in the study of the site was made today at a meeting at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia.

Four American paleontologists and one German paleontologist, chosen because of the diversity of their experience and views, reported on a reconnaissance trip to China they completed two weeks ago.

The site, near the village of Beipiao in Liaoning province in northeastern China, was discovered by a local farmer who realized the potential scientific value of a fossil he found, which looked as much like a bird as a dinosaur, and which seemed to have a feathery crest -- perhaps some form of primitive feathers or fur. He split the rocky specimen in half, selling one half to scientific institutions in Beijing and the other half to their rivals in Nanjing.

Although the spectacular trove was not announced until today, photographs of this transitional animal were presented last October in New York City at a meeting of the Society for Vertebrate Paleontology.

The presentation caused such a sensation that Dr. Donald Wolberg of the Philadelphia academy arranged for a reconnaissance trip by international experts to inspect the site. They returned two weeks ago, and reported today on some of their findings.

Dr. John H. Ostrom, a retired Yale University professor who in 1964 discovered the velociraptor dinosaurs made famous in the movie ''Jurassic Park,'' headed the inspection in China. ''This was one of the most exciting moments of my life,'' Dr. Ostrom said today. ''I'm not aware of any richer fossil sites anywhere.''

The others in the group were Dr. Peter Wellnhofen of the University of Munich, Germany, a specialist in fossil birds; David Bubier of the Philadelphia academy; Dr. Larry D. Martin of the University of Kansas, and Dr. Alan Brush of the University of Connecticut.

Among the fossils the group examined were several specimens of sinosauropteryx, an animal very similar to compsagnathus dinosaurs. In one fossil they found an oviduct containing an egg that would have been laid if the animal had lived. This was the first fossilized internal organ every found in a dinosaur.

In another specimen of the same species they found the fossil jaw bone from a primitive mammal the dinosaur had just eaten. The jaw bone is about one inch wide and is studded with sharp little teeth.

The main immediate interest of the group focused on specimens that might or might not represent transitional life forms between dinosaurs and birds.

Although a majority of paleontologists accept the view that modern birds are direct descendants of dinosaurs, other experts argue that the two lines are merely ''convergent'' -- that they evolved into similar forms through a process of parallel evolution, not by direct kinship.

Dr. Ostrom and others believe that a kind of black line running along the spine of the sinosauropteryx is a fossil remnant of something like fur or possibly feathers. He has long argued that birds, which have skeletons strikingly similar to those of theropod dinosaurs, descended directly from dinosaurs.

Others in his group disagreed, arguing that the black frill along the animal's spine does not resemble feathers but could actually be the residue of tissues that lay under the skin of the animal in life. It could also have been left by bacteria as the animal decomposed.

Another enigmatic Chinese fossil prompted debate between the team members. The chicken-sized dinosaur, dubbed by Chinese scientists as protoarcheopteryx, is believed by these scientists to be a primitive, nonfeathered relative of archaeopteryx, the earliest known true bird.

But Dr. Martin and several others challenged this on the ground that protoarchaeopteryx apparently lived later than archaeopteryx and could not therefore have been its ancestor.

This month's expedition to northeast China raised many more questions than it answered, and participants agreed that much more investigation is required. For one thing, the dates of the fossils are somewhat uncertain because geologists are not sure about when the sediments in which the fossils are embedded were laid down.

''I look forward to a wonderful cooperative project with American and other international paleontologists,'' Dr. Ji Qiang, director of the National Geological Museum of China, said. ''This locality we have just begun to look at is not only a Chinese treasure, it is a global treasure.''

Photos: Dr. John H. Ostrom, a retired Yale professor, spoke in Philadelphia yesterday about a trip he headed to China to inspect fossils like the one of the sinosauropteryx, a dinosaur Dr. Ostrom and others believe shows the remnants of feathers or fur. (Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times); A close-up of its head is shown. (David Bubier/Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia)(pg. A20); The first fossilized organs of dinosaurs ever seen have been found in China. The fossils included a sinosauropteryx. (David Bubier/Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia)(pg. A1)